Page 33 of Toxic Vengeance

A few seconds of taut silence passed. “When you retired you promised things would be different, but here you are still having secret meetings and not coming home, not telling me what’s going on.” She paused. “Are you having an affair?”

That offended him. “No.”

“I swear to God, if you’re cheating on me…”

“I’m not. Christ, Annie.” That’s what she thought was going on here? Yeah, he’d been a shitty husband in a lot of other ways over the years because of his work. Yeah, he’d cheated on her once, and look where it had landed him.

He’d been thinking with his dick instead of his brain, had even thought he might be falling in love with the woman, who was a master manipulator. She’d played him like a violin and he hadn’t even realized it until it was too late. He was still paying for that mistake, and would never do it again.

“You’ve been acting weird for weeks now,” she continued, sounding dejected.

“I’m not having a fucking affair,” he growled. Jesus. Dangerous people were closing in on him, and he was trying to figure out a way to get to them first.

“Then what are you doing?”

“I’m dealing with something. Something important.”

“But you’re still not going to tell me.”

“I can’t.”

She gave a bitter laugh. “Wow. The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

He ran a hand over his face, exhaustion hitting him all of a sudden. He’d barely slept the last few nights. In his twenties and thirties, he could run on almost no sleep. Not anymore. “Look, I’m still in the area, but it’s…”Not safe for me to come home.“I think you should take Kimmie and your sister up to the lake for a few days.”

Another tense pause filled the line. “Why, what’s going on?”

“I can’t tell you.” For her own safety, and their daughter’s. “I think it might be a good time for you to be at the cabin with your parents.” Her parents had owned it for decades, and that way she and their daughter would be surrounded by people, making them a less vulnerable target.

“Jesus, Glenn, what the hell’s going on?” Fear was evident in her voice.

His past sins were catching up with him. And when they did, he didn’t want his family to wind up collateral damage. “It’s going to be fine. I’m taking care of it.” He didn’t want to cause her more alarm than he had to. And he sure as fuck didn’t want her to know what he’d done.

“When are you coming home?”

“As soon as I can. But I can’t give you a timeframe on this.” Not until he ended this potential threat.

“Are you safe?”

“Yes.” For now. “I love you.”

She sighed. “I love you too. You’ll update me when you can?”

“Yes. Kiss Kimmie for me.”

An uncomfortable tension spread through his gut as he ended the call. How fucking ironic that with all the things he’d done on ops for the Agency, he’d never been worried for his family’s safety before, and now that he was retired, he was. This whole thing was haunting him, never giving him a moment’s peace. It had been a long time since his days as a field officer, and even longer since he’d been in the military. He’d worked damn hard to stay in shape and maintain his skills. He could still hold his own with the best of them.

If the Valkyries came for him, he would be ready.

He headed for the highway, watching closely to make sure he didn’t have a tail following him. At the gun range he took his weapons out of the trunk in their cases. Shooting was a perishable skill, it degraded without consistent practice. He’d made sure not to let that happen.

The range officer broke into a grin when Glenn walked in. “Bennett. Back for more already?”

“What can I say, I’m addicted.”

“I know the feeling.”

He took Glenn through to the range out back, watched as Glenn set up his rifle. “Want me to spot you?”

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